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Time Ranges

In SAF, a time filter is required to define a time frame analysis. In order to narrow the search and group events by time, you need to use various time filters, which are present on most dashboards.

Using timestamps​

timestamp - indicates the point in time when the event occurred or the recording was made. In SAF, timestamps play an important role in allowing data to be sorted and facilitating subsequent analysis.

Advantages of using timestamps​

  • Data Analysis Precision: Temporal techniques for organizing data in a temporal order that allows for reliable analysis of the temporal aspects of events.
  • Ease of data filtering and searching: The use of time-based methods involves filtering and searching data by time intervals, which is the main process of analysis.
  • Data visualization using: Data visualization using timestamps allows you to quickly identify time trends and anomalies, making your analysis more informative.

Timestamps are stored in ISO​

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) date and time Format is a standard way to express a numeric calendar date -- and optionally time -- in a format that eliminates ambiguity between entities. The format, defined in the ISO 8601 standard, is used extensively by applications and machines to exchange date and time data without the uncertainly that comes when trying to communicate this data across international boundaries, diverse cultures or different time zones.

ISO 8601 date format​

Every component shown in the example below must be present when expressing a date in ISO 8601 format; this includes all punctuation characters and the "T" character. Within a string, the "T" indicates the beginning of the time element (directly following the date element).

Date format:

YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss[.mmm]TZD (eg 2012-03-29T10:05:45-06:00)

Where:

  • YYYY = four-digit year
  • MM = two-digit month (eg 03=March)
  • DD = two-digit day of the month (01 through 31)
  • T = a set character indicating the start of the time element
  • hh = two digits of an hour (00 through 23, AM/PM not included)
  • mm = two digits of a minute (00 through 59)
  • ss = two digits of a second (00 through 59)
  • mmm = three digits of a millisecond (000 through 999)
  • TZD = time zone designator (Z or +hh:mm or -hh:mm), the + or - values indicate how far ahead or behind a time zone is from the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) zone.

Difference between GMT and UTC​

GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is sometimes confused with UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). However GMT is a time zone and UTC is a time standard.

GMT is a time zone officially used in some European and African countries as their local time. The time is displayed in either the 24-hour format (00:00-23:59) or the 12-hour format (00:00-12:00 AM/PM).

UTC is a time standard that is the basis for time and time zones worldwide. No country uses UTC as a local time.

Neither GMT nor UTC ever change for Daylight Saving Time (DST). However, some of the countries that use GMT switch to different time zones during their DST period. For example, the United Kingdom uses GMT for most of the year, but switches to British Summer Time (BST) during the summer months. BST is one hour ahead of GMT.